Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

The page was old, but the writing shone as if it had just been freshly inked.

Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the golden, radiant letters.

“What... what is this!?”

“These must be the writings of our predecessor,” someone said. “It looks like the handwriting of Tang Hwa-seong, the youngest son of our third-generation clan head, Tang Mun-ryong, who compiled this very book.”

“So-ryong, come here. If this is something that might disappear in an instant, it’s better for you to read it. ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) You understand venomous creatures better than any of us.”

“Still...”

“Come now!”

Grandfather called me over, interrupting his conversation with my father-in-law. He said this could be a tremendous stroke of fortune and insisted I take a look at the contents.

Of course, I had no reason to refuse. As I stepped forward, Hwa-eun’s voice urged me on in my mind, quickly followed by the voice of my mother-in-law.

“So-ryong, come quickly!”

“You’re like a son to me. If it’s only hesitation because you’re a son-in-law, that’s nonsense.”

“Son-in-law, go on.”

Grateful for my family’s warmth and support, I bowed my head to everyone in thanks and stepped in front of Grandfather.

“Thank you, all of you.”

Then I turned my eyes to the book before me. The light reflecting off it revealed stunning, radiant script.

But instead of diving straight into some amazing revelation, the first lines puzzled me. The writing began on a hazy background, full of questioning tones.

“If you’re reading this, then you must have acquired a Four King.

You need one by your side to read something written in a Four King’s venom.

To think someone as obsessed with venom as I was has appeared in our clan again. Is this a blessing or the beginning of a curse?”

...Something about that made me uneasy.

But the next lines truly shocked me.

“So then, has your Four King consumed a soul yet? Or not?”

“A soul...? Like... a spirit?”

The term ‘soul’ caught me off guard, and I tilted my head. Grandfather explained.

“So-ryong, you’ve heard the phrase ‘honbi baeksan’, right?”

“Yes, Grandfather. It means someone’s lost their mind, right?”

“Yes, but its original meaning is deeper.

Humans are made of spirit and body. The body, of course, is the flesh. The spirit, or yeong, is what gives us thought and emotion.

When someone dies, their spirit separates into hon and baek.

Hon carries the yang energy and ascends to the heavens, while baek, the yin aspect, sinks back into the earth. That is what we refer to as death.”

It was complicated and hard to follow, but I got the gist of it—essentially, it’s a kind of soul.

And then something flashed across my mind.

Back when Cheongyu died, something had flowed from her mouth into the mouth of the Golden-Crowned Death King.

“Wait... does that mean the Golden-Crowned Death King swallowed Cheongyu’s soul?!”

I hadn’t seen it with my eyes exactly, but my body had felt it.

It wasn’t a logical thought—it was instinct.

My spine tingled, and the hairs on my arms stood on end as I looked further down the page.

**“If it happened after the soul was consumed, then it might be painful depending on whose soul it was.

Especially if it was someone dear to you.

But take some comfort—others have been in your shoes.

Even I... found solace knowing someone else out there had suffered like I did.

I don’t know whose soul your Four King consumed,

but mine consumed the soul of my maidservant.

Or rather... someone who had been my maidservant.

She had been with me since we were children.

She was like an older sister... a younger sister... a mother... a lover. But I didn’t realize how precious she was until I lost her. Why are we always like that?

Ah, I’m rambling.

Now, if your Four King hasn’t consumed a soul yet, you’re lucky.

If it hasn’t happened yet, release the Four King as soon as you can.”**

The warning rang loud.

If you can’t make sense of what’s written, the author offered to explain:

**“Let me tell you why.

The Golden-Crowned Death King must consume a human soul in order to grow.

But don’t worry—it doesn’t kill anyone to take their soul.

It usually takes the soul of someone nearby who dies suddenly.

It’s the soul of someone already dead, so it may not seem like a big deal.

But not all consumed souls vanish.

Sometimes, the person lingers—within the Four King itself.

You probably don’t understand.

My maid died suddenly in a plague.

The Four King consumed her soul and took on her form.

A few years later, the clan tried to arrange a new marriage for me.

Every time I looked at the Four King, I thought of her.

But I accepted the engagement anyway.

The night I told the Four King about the wedding, I found it crying alone by the dressing chamber.

Under the moonlight... it wasn’t the Four King I saw.

It was her.

The same look in her eyes—the one I’d seen hundreds, thousands of times.

That’s when I knew she was still there, inside.

But no one in the clan believed me.

They thought I’d been bewitched.

Which wasn’t helped by the fact that I was caught... being intimate with the creature.

Eventually, the clan, afraid of my behavior, released the Four King somewhere I didn’t know.

So I wandered for years, searching for her.

But I never found her again.

Now you understand why there’s no illustration of the Golden-Crowned Death King in this book.

I’ve filled in every other venomous creature—but left this one blank.

I couldn’t allow it to fall into anyone else’s hands.

I couldn’t let the face of the one I loved be passed on like that.

Maybe... maybe if it’s a Four King from the next generation or the one after that... maybe then.”**

“Oh wow.”

So that’s why this elder vanished from the family records... he was hiding this secret.

I don’t usually like hopeless romantics, but—

“Amen.”

As I silently prayed for Tang Hwa-seong’s peace in the afterlife, a voice broke in.

“So you’re saying that woman, Cheongyu, is... alive inside the Golden-Crowned Death King? No, not alive—she’s already dead. You mean her soul is inside it?”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Excuse me, Lady Cheongyu?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Hwa-eun called out toward the Golden-Crowned Death King as if searching for the human Cheongyu, but the creature only tilted its head in confusion.

—Shaaa?

“What? So... was Senior Hwa-seong wrong after all?”

Hwa-eun raised the question—was our ancestor just making it up?

But I didn’t think it was a lie.

No matter how much someone loves their venomous creature, who spends their entire life searching for it without marrying or settling down?

Unless they’re a complete psychopath or suffering from delusions.

Though, yeah... there was a bit of obsession there.

“Maybe Cheongyu hasn’t fully matured into her adult form yet.”

“Oh, so she’s still young?”

“Yes.”

Hwa-eun nodded thoughtfully at my reply.

“If Lady Cheongyu’s soul really is inside the Golden-Crowned Death King, then it might help us figure out where the Five Venoms Sect is hiding—or what their plans are.”

“That’s true.”

“Definitely true.”

Even the elders agreed.

It looked like we would have to track down the Earth-Swimming Divine Serpent after all.

‘Nice name, too...’

Since the soul has already been consumed, all that’s left to make the Golden-Crowned Death King a fully mature adult is to find the Cheonji Twin Generals.

And honestly, I was pretty curious about what would happen once that transformation was complete.

***

The next day, at the Tang Clan’s inner training grounds.

To reach the long-awaited Four-Poison Realm, Grandfather and I met there for the ceremony.

—Shaaa.

Of course, the Golden-Crowned Death King—Cheongyu—was with us.

Seol, Tong, and Bing would be registered last, so we were starting with Cheongyu to enter the Four-Poison Realm first.

The fourth poison—sa (four) also sounds like sa (snake) in Korean, so obviously, the fourth should be a snake.

Since drawing blood wasn’t necessary, I just placed my fingertip near Cheongyu’s mouth and pulled it away quickly to start the bond.

“Let’s go, Four-Poison Realm!”

Closing my eyes, I began circulating Beast Heart Art.

I prayed it would register quickly.

But after a while... nothing.

No reaction from the Beast Heart Art.

I cracked one eye open and glanced at Cheongyu—who was yawning with her long, wide mouth.

Normally, the Beast Heart Art would connect instantly, but Cheongyu wasn’t responding at all.

When I got closer, I even felt a slight discomfort in my lower abdomen.

“What’s going on? It’s not working... Should I try with Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art instead?”

That was the art that originally categorized poisons, including those I registered through Beast Heart Art.

But since Beast Heart Art wasn’t working, I had no choice.

So I tried using the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art.

But just like before—nothing.

It didn’t respond.

Frowning, I turned to Grandfather, who was watching carefully, perhaps curious whether I could handle this world’s structure of power. I tilted my head and asked,

“This is weird, Grandfather. It’s not registering.”

“It’s not?”

“No.”

“Even with the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art?”

“That didn’t work either.”

“What the—? Bring in Lady Seol immediately!”

A commotion followed as Grandfather called for equipment and shouted toward the entrance of the training grounds. Seol appeared, looking over at us.

“Wait, so the Beast Heart Art doesn’t connect to the Golden-Crowned Death King?”

“Yes, Sister Seol. I tried to register Cheongyu for the Four-Poison Realm first, then move on to Seol, Tong, and Bing for the full Five-Poison Realm. But Beast Heart Art just isn’t responding.”

“And the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art didn’t work either?”

“Nope. Even after several tries.”

After confirming it herself, she frowned and said,

“Senior, please check it from your side too. It’d be best to examine it from both angles.”

“True enough.”

And so began a joint detailed assessment from Seol and Grandfather.

Eventually, their findings narrowed in on a single issue: the problem wasn’t with me—it was with Cheongyu.

Unlike Seol, my Beast Heart Art is linked directly to Poison Arts.

To raise its mastery, I need an actual poison to work with.

But Cheongyu had none.

She didn’t have any poison in her.

She had fangs, sure—but no venom.

So, they concluded, registration was impossible.

“But why doesn’t she have any venom? Didn’t the golden script say the page was written in the venom of the Golden-Crowned Death King?”

“She must not be fully matured yet—hence, no venom.”

That made sense... but it still didn’t explain why Hwa-eun could register, even though she also has no venom.

That part didn’t add up.

“Then how did Hwa-eun get linked to it?” I asked.

Both Grandfather and Seol stroked their chins.

After some thought, Grandfather spoke up.

“You’ve trained in Beast Heart Art, yes—but yours is connected to poison.

Lady Seol’s version is slightly different.

As for Hwa-eun—she doesn’t have her own venom, but she has taken in poisons in order to train in Poison Arts.

Here in the Tang Clan, our poison cultivation relies on absorbing various poisons and forming our own personalized venom base.

Hwa-eun’s venom wasn’t complete yet, so her cultivation level didn’t rise,

but she had some poison in her—enough to register through Beast Heart Art.

The Golden-Crowned Death King, on the other hand, has none. That may be why it doesn’t connect.”

“...That actually makes sense...”

Everything seemed to line up now.

“So what do we do?”

At my question, Grandfather smiled.

“Find the Earth-Swimming Divine Serpent and help Cheongyu mature fully.”

“As I thought—there’s no other way but to help her reach adulthood.”

“Exactly.”

And with that, we had one more reason to hunt down the Earth-Swimming Divine Serpent—this time, with the family’s full support.

‘Earth-Swimming Divine Serpent, just wait. I’m coming for you. Hope you’re handsome, because I’m dying to see who Yeondu ends up with.’